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United States Patent |
5,573,111
|
Gordon
,   et al.
|
November 12, 1996
|
Paperboard bottle carrier
Abstract
A bottle carrier having a central or upper panel of paperboard and at least
one lower panel or layer. Each panel has a plurality of bottle neck
receiving openings. The periphery of each opening of each panel is defined
by the tips of a plurality of radially extending fingers, the tips of the
fingers of the upper panel engaging beneath a portion of an abutment
associated with each bottle neck. Each finger is bent upwardly at about 45
degrees after insertion of a bottle into a respective opening. Each upper
panel radial finger is provided at its widest portion with a base slit
extending through the paperboard. Another and intermediate slit is located
about half way along the length of each upper panel finger, the
intermediate slit also extending through the paperboard. The base slit
permits bending of each finger upwardly upon bottle insertion, while the
intermediate slit facilitates removal of each bottle from its respective
opening. The lower panel is provided with reinforcing fingers which are in
surface and reinforcing contact with the radially outermost portions only
of the upper radial fingers, namely, from the base of each upper finger to
its respective intermediate slit. These lower reinforcing fingers permit
significant reduction in thickness of the paperboard stock which forms the
carrier.
Inventors:
|
Gordon; Robert L. (Monroe, NY);
Bernstein; Linda A. (Campbell Hall, NY)
|
Assignee:
|
International Paper (Purchase, NY)
|
Appl. No.:
|
489884 |
Filed:
|
June 13, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: |
206/151; 206/158 |
Intern'l Class: |
B65D 071/40 |
Field of Search: |
206/139,141,145-147,151-161,427
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
2654474 | Oct., 1953 | Ringler | 206/141.
|
3170570 | Feb., 1965 | Rice.
| |
3317234 | May., 1967 | Burford | 206/145.
|
3524671 | Jan., 1968 | Akeireb.
| |
3711143 | Jan., 1973 | Smed.
| |
3834750 | Sep., 1974 | Gauntlett.
| |
4378879 | Apr., 1983 | Killy.
| |
5186321 | Feb., 1993 | Fadus | 206/151.
|
5323895 | Jun., 1994 | Sutherland.
| |
5474172 | Dec., 1995 | Zavatone et al. | 206/158.
|
Primary Examiner: Foster; Jimmy G.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Doyle; Michael J.
Claims
We claim:
1. A bottle carrier formed from a unitary paperboard blank, said blank
including an upper panel having a plurality of bottle neck receiving
openings, said upper panel openings each having a plurality of cut lines
extending through said paperboard and extending radially outwardly from
said respective openings to thereby define a plurality of radially
extending upper fingers, tips of said radially extending upper fingers
terminating at respective said openings, each of said radially extending
upper fingers having a base slit at its base or widest portion, each of
said radially extending upper fingers having an intermediate slit about
midway along its length, said blank including a reinforcing, apertured
lower paperboard panel folded and glued beneath said upper panel, said
reinforcing, apertured lower panel having openings which are concentric
with respective said openings of said upper panel, each of said openings
of said lower reinforcing panel having radially extending reinforcing
fingers therearound, said reinforcing lower fingers being congruent with
portions only of said upper panel fingers, said reinforcing lower fingers
extending from said lower reinforcing panel and terminating at respective
said intermediate slits of respective said upper panel fingers, said lower
reinforcing fingers being in surface contact with respective said upper
fingers.
2. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said base and intermediate slits of said
upper fingers extend through said paperboard panel.
3. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said base and intermediate slits of said
upper fingers are parallel to each other, said slits being generally at
right angles to the length of each said radially extending finger.
4. The carrier of claim 1 including a bottle having a neck, said neck
extending through one of said openings, an abutment contiguous to said
neck, said tips of said upper radial fingers engaging said abutment, said
radially extending upper fingers and said reinforcing fingers tilted
upwardly with respect to said upper panel.
5. The carrier of claim 1 including means on said carrier to facilitate
carrying it by a consumer.
6. The carrier of claim 5 wherein said means is defined by a central
opening in said upper panel through which the fingers of a consumer can be
inserted.
7. A bottle carrier having upper and lower paperboard panels, said
paperboard upper panel having a plurality of bottle neck receiving upper
openings each annularly surrounded by radially extending upper fingers
having tips terminating at respective said upper openings, each said upper
finger also having a base remote from its tip, each said upper finger
having a slit between its tip and its base, said lower layer having a
plurality of bottle receiving lower openings concentric with respective
said upper openings, each said lower opening surrounded by radially
extending lower, reinforcing fingers having tips terminating at respective
said lower openings, the diameter of said lower openings being
substantially the same as the diameter of an imaginary circle on which
said slits of said upper fingers lie.
8. The carrier of claim 7 wherein said upper and lower paperboard panels
are in surface contact with each other and wherein.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to bottle carriers of the type fashioned from planar
sheets of paperboard, the sheets having a plurality of openings for
receiving respective bottles. Each bottle receiving opening has a
plurality of radially outwardly extending fingers defined by cuts through
the paperboard. In general, such carriers have been used largely for cans.
Examples of constructions of this general type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.
3,834,750 issued to Gauntlett, 3,156,358 issued to Randrup, and 5,125,506
issued to Galbierz et al.
While planar paperboard bottle carriers have been widely employed for
carrying cans, such as soft drink cans or the like, they have not been
widely accepted for carrying plastic bottles having integral annular
flanges around their necks. Generally, the annular flanges associated with
bottles, or the screw caps on bottles, are so much larger in diameter than
the diameter of the openings in the carrier that it is difficult to remove
a bottle from its respective opening.
It is known from copending patent application Ser. No. 08/291,068 by
Jonathan T. Beales et al, filed Aug. 17, 1994, and entitled "Paperboard
Bottle Carrier", hereby incorporated by reference, that bottle removal
from a paperboard carrier is facilitated by providing each of the radially
extending fingers of each bottle opening with two parallel slits extending
through the paperboard. One slit is termed the base slit and is located at
the widest part or base of the finger and the other or intermediate slit
is located about half way along the finger length. The slits are at right
angles to the longitudinal axis of each finger. The base slit facilitates
upward bending of each finger at its base, while the intermediate slit
portion of each radial finger defines a frangible area which is relatively
easily broken or fractured when a respective bottle is tilted and twisted
and pulled downwardly to remove it from the carrier.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The radial fingers of the noted Beales et al construction of copending
application Ser. No. 08/291,068 are weakened at their respective mid
lengths by slits. While facilitating bottle withdrawal, such weakening of
the radial fingers places a limit on the reduction of thickness of the
paperboard from which the bottle carrier is fashioned. It is clearly
desirable to make the paperboard as thin as possible to reduce cost.
By the practice of this invention reduction of paperboard thickness is
realized by configuring the lower panels or plies of the bottle carrier so
as to form lower reinforcing fingers which support the lower portions only
of the bottle bead engaging fingers of the upper panel or ply. These lower
reinforcing fingers extend from the base of the integral bead engaging
upper fingers to respective intermediate slits of these latter fingers.
After assembly or mounting of the bottles on the carrier, the reinforcing
fingers are sandwiched at angular positions between lower portions of the
bead engaging upper fingers and the bottle necks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,895 issued to Sutherland et al discloses a somewhat
similar bottle carrier, also having upper and lower bottle neck receiving
plies, with bottle bead engaging radial fingers. In that construction
however, the tips of the fingers of both the upper and lower plies engage
the integral bottle neck beads or rings. Further, this Sutherland
construction does not employ intermediate slits to define a frangible area
or zone along each radial finger to facilitate bottle removal from the
carrier.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a unitary blank of paperboard or other stiff,
foldable, and resilient sheet material from which the bottle carrier of
this invention is fashioned.
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and shows the blank of FIG. 1 after its
end panels have been folded downwardly and glued, ready to be loaded with
bottles.
FIG. 3 is a view taken along section 3--3 of FIG. 2 and illustrates a
plastic bottle, having an integral neck bead, inserted into the carrier.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a unitary blank of paperboard or
other stiff, foldable and resilient sheet material is denoted as 10. Blank
10 is generally rectangular and is mirror symmetrical to the left and
right with respect to a vertical or longitudinal axis 12. Central or upper
panel 14 is provided at its center with a finger carrying opening 21. Each
quadrant of panel 14 is provided with a bottle receiving opening 36 whose
periphery is defined by the radially innermost tips of radial fingers made
by radial slits 38 extending through the paperboard. The base or widest
portion of each finger is provided with a base slit 40. Another and
intermediate slit 42 is located about half way along the length of each
radial finger 44, with slits 40 and 42 being parallel to each other, both
extending through the paperboard, and located midway of the width of a
respective radial finger. A typical dimension of panel 14 is 5.625 inches
on each side, as from fold line 28 to fold line 30, and a typical length
of slits 40 and 42 is 0.125 inches. Openings 32 are typically 1.8125
inches in diameter. Edge notches 29 in end panels 26 and 27 are congruent
to opening 21 when the end panels are folded downwardly.
End panels 26 and 27 each carry two openings 32 whose respective
peripheries are radially intersected by radial cuts 60. Angularly spaced
reinforcing fingers 62 are defined by cuts 60. Each reinforcing finger 62
has a base cut 64 extending through the paperboard, similar to cuts 40 of
main or upper panel 14. Base cuts 64 facilitate upward bending of
reinforcing fingers 62. The diameter of openings 32 is that of the
diametrical distance between opposed intermediate cuts 42 of fingers 44.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the blank of FIG. 1 has been folded about fold
lines 28 and 30, with end panels 26 and 27 glued against the bottom
surface of upper panel 14. Openings 32 of panels 26 and 27 are coaxial
with respective bottle openings 36 in panel 14. Lower panels 26 and 27
reinforce upper panel 14. Each finger 62 of the lower or end panels is
beneath, partially congruent, and aligned with a respective finger 44 of
upper panel 14. The diameter of openings 32 of lower panels 26 and 27 is
substantially the same as the diameter of an imaginary circle which
contains frangible portions 42 of upper fingers 44. In order to permit
relative sliding of the upper and lower fingers upon bending upwardly of
these fingers, shortly to be described, the upper and lower fingers are
not glued together, although they are in surface contact with each other.
FIG. 3 illustrates one of a plurality of plastic bottles 52, the others not
shown, each typically formed by blow molding from polyethylene
terephthalate (PET), then filled with product and loaded in the carrier.
Each bottle, typically, is provided with a screw cap 54, a neck 56 and an
enlarged and integral bead or ring 58 around its neck. For loading, the
carrier is moved downwardly relative to the bottles, with each bottle
upper portion passing upwardly relative to the plane of panel 14. The
extent of the motion is such that upon completion of the loading, the tips
of upper radial fingers 44 engage the bottom of a respective bottle bead
or ring 58. This relation is maintained by the weight of the bottles, with
the fingers 44 being under lengthwise compression and slanted upwardly
with respect to the plane of panels 14, 26 and 27. The carrier is lifted
(as from a retail display shelf) and carried by the purchaser inserting
his fingers into opening 21 and folded under partial openings 29. While
shown as at right angles to the length of each finger 44, slits 40 and 42
may be slanted so as to be at an angle with respect to the longitudinal
axis of each upper radial finger. Further, the slits 40 and 42 need not be
parallel to each other. It will be noted that the diameter of caps 54 is
greater than the diameter of bottle openings 36, but less than the spacing
between diametrically opposite pairs of base slits 40 of any upper opening
36. Each respective reinforcing finger 62 extends from the plane of lower
panels 26 and 27 angularly upwardly to a respective cut 42 on a respective
finger 44. It is seen that the lower portion of each finger 44 is
reinforced by respective reinforcing finger 62. In the assembled form of
the carrier of FIG. 2, the periphery of each opening 32 is substantially
tangent to intermediate slits 42 of openings 36.
When the consumer desires to disengage a bottle from the carrier, the
bottle is grasped, tilted, twisted, and pulled downwardly. These motions
result in a fracture of several of the associated radial fingers 44 at the
region of intermediate slits 42, thus facilitating bottle removal.
In the event that a particular bottle design does not include ring or bead
58 on its neck, the tips of fingers 44 would then abut either the lower
rim of cap 54 or would abut the bottoms of the screw threads (not
illustrated) on the top of the bottle neck. According to the invention,
the exact form of the abutment associated with each bottle neck 56 and
engaged by the free ends or tips of fingers 44, namely, ring 58, or the
bottom of cap 54, or the bottom of the screw threads, is not critical.
The number of upper radial fingers 44, the extent of radial cuts 38, and
the number of openings 36 may all be varied for particular bottle weights
and designs. It will be observed that the length of slits 40 and 42 is
about one third of the width of any radial finger 44 at the respective
locations of the slits, but this proportion may be varied. The length of
slits 40 must be sufficient to facilitate bending at the finger bases,
while the length of slits 42 must be sufficient to permit fracture in
their regions.
While blank 10 is shown as having a single upper panel 14 and two lower end
panels 26 and 27, it may be formed of a single upper panel and a single
lower panel. For ease in fabrication, the upper and lower panels are
integral but may be made separate. Further, central panel 14 may be
provided with openings 32 and associated fingers while end panels 26 and
27 provided with openings 36 and associated fingers, with thus modified
end panels 26 and 27 folded on top of thus modified central panel 14.
The practice of this invention permits a reduction of thickness of the
paperboard for the same weight bottles, typically, from a paperboard stock
of about 110 to 130 pounds per 1000 square feet to a stock of about 90 to
100 pounds per 1000 square feet.
Geometrical terms of orientation, such as upper, lower and the like, are
used to facilitate the description.
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